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Re: [VintageLambo] Re: burst oil cooler pipe

Jack Riddell

Hi Clive, When I had my most recent "experience" with a ruptured oil cooler, it was the result of poor planning by our local utility, San Diego Gas and Electric. They had dug a large opening in a street near my home to gain access to an in-ground electrical box. They then capped the hole with a steel plate that was about five feet square by one inch thick Normally, when they used the steel plate covers, they build an asphalt ramp around the edges to avoid the abrupt lip of the plate, but in this case, they did not. The plate was located only inches from a "dip" in the street caused by a small drainage culvert. Anyhow, the combination of the dip and the 1" steel lip was catastophic to my poor oil cooler.I limped about 30 feet to the side of the road and killed the engine. I checked the level on the oil dipstick to assess the amount of oil loss and found that I could still measure oil but well down the stick. I decided to chance it and drove the car the remaining one block to my home. There was no damage to the engine as a result. I think like Fred pointed out, these engines are pretty tough. I wouldn"t drive more than a city block in these conditions, however. Better to get the tow truck. By the way - the utility company paid for the replacement oil cooler, although it took some good luck for that to happen. Seems they wanted to stiff me initially until I found a pair of witnesses who saw the workmen the following day, removing the plate and filling the offending hole and bragging about how there would not be any evidence of a damaging plate to complain about. When I confronted the utility representative with the witnesses, she immediately changed her tune and offered to pay the costs. Without the witnesses, I would have been screwed. Lesson learned - I now carry a disposable camera in my cars just in case I have any future problems as a means of capturing visual evidence. I highly recommend them for anybody. Best Regards, Jack badsaddle wrote: Hi Jack Glad I"m not the only one.... Yes my car has (had) the braided metal coated hose - and it does not look that old either. God only knows the force the oil must have come out at as the hole is tiny, the chaffed area similarly small with a few loose threads only. I guess once the protective skin is disturbed only the slightest nudge will burst the pipe. The really surprising thing is the hot oil did not ignite when it sprayed the manifolds - they were covered! I"m hoping Fred"s theory is right and the engine is OK - that"s my real worry of course.... Best Clive --- In VintageLambo@yahoogroups.com, Jack Riddell wrote: > Hi Clive, > > I had an incident similar to yours once where the oil cooler got > punctured and dumped a case of 20W-50 in a matter of seconds. > Fortunately, I was moving very slowly at the time so I didn"t get the > adrenaline rush you must have experienced. And most of the oil ended up > on the side of the road and not on the car. One question - are your > hoses the type with the braided metal jacket? I would think that the > chafing would be a non-issue with that protection. But I fully agree, > anyone who has that oil cooler must take the time to periodically check > hoses, mounting, signs of damage to the cooler, etc. or face the > possibility of experiencing some real unpleasantness. I am on my third > oil cooler! Luckily, there is a gentleman in Santa Barbara (Peter > Economoff) who can re-create oil coolers that are indistinguishable from > OEM. > > B/R, > > Jack > > badsaddle wrote: > > > > > > > A salutory tale:- > > > > Out in my 400gt 2+2 at night at the w/end, late and driving quickly, > > passing a car at 80mph in a country lane and had a problem at > > front of my car which felt like a blow out, went to brake and car > > skidded violently, accompanied by clouds of acrid white smoke, > > plunging oi